Tail of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

July 19, 2012

PICTURED IS the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress of World War II. This true warrior of the sky was very immensely strong. It managed to return to base with severe battle damage and the big bomber could still fly even with largest sections of the huge vertical tail shot away. The B-17 earlier models were not fitted with tail guns. A tail Gunners position was later added at a fast pace to the B-17E and all subsequent models. Boeing was among the pioneers of stressed-skin design and the B-17 was among the earliest all-metal monoplane heavy bombers to enter service. Submitted by Carl Krob